A Heated Debate Between Two Charismatic Geniuses: A Cardinal Fan (Jeff Lung) and a Tiger Fan (Allen Krause)

Results tagged ‘ Kyle Farnsworth ’

Crippling heat in Russia, killer floods in Pakistan and, as if that
wasn’t enough, every single division race is still up in the air. Is
it me or has the world gone crazy?

Percy

Franklin, PA_______________________________

Well, Percy, I gotta admit: you sure lost me with the whole Russia and Pakistan thing. What is Pakistan anyway? Any relation to pachyderms? Or pachydermia? I think one of my sisters has pachydermia. Sores. Lots of ’em. I think…

I know that I’m a US American, man! Heck, nowadays, you can just label me as a plain, old ‘Merican. Stuff my face with apple pie, stick me in front of the tube to watch baseball, let me marry three chicks at the same time and let’s make a damn reality show out of this highfalutin awesomeness!

Has the world gone crazy?

Yes!

The world has been crazy for as long as I can remember, and it just keeps getting crazier. I mean, we live in a world where aggressive foreign policies are based on bronze age fairy-tales — a world where Kyle Farnsworth always has a job — a world where the Texas Rangers are running away with the AL Western Division title!

Of course, the world has gone crazy, Percy! Of course! Look around!

We live in a world where technocracy trumps physicality — a world where Elisabeth Hasselbeck is seen as an authority on social issues — a world where I can have 600 “friends”… without ever leaving my apartment… EVER!

Crazy?!?! More like frightening, Percy! Frightening!

Ya see, if I could have it my way I’d live on a self-serving farm, surrounded by nothing, accompanied by a sole transistor radio beaming exciting play-by-plays of men laboring in wool uniforms hundreds of miles away while I sip away on barrels of whisky.

Yeah. I think I could get by on that.

But this is 2010, Percy. And 2010 has iPods and Blagojevich and MLB.TV and Glenn Beck and Facebooks and Lady Gaga and Twitters and… and… whaddya call it? Pakistans?

Something on your mind? Want to see
Jeff and Al sweat (separately, not
together, eww)? Think you got a real stumper? Send us your Filibuster
question(s) by commenting or emailing them to us at
kraulung@gmail.com.

*Information leading to the arrest of Mr. Krause’s imaginary friend, Sal the Tiger Lovin’ Slobberer also welcome.

It has become obvious to me that baseball managers do not read this blog. How do I know this? Because how else can you explain the fact that Kyle Farnsworth STILL has a job?! Have I not made this clear? The dude is poison. The Cubs didn’t blow the 2003 NLCS because of Bartman. It was Farnsworth. He makes every team worse.

But, despite my multitude of cautions and unwavering admonitions, teams with hopes of making the postseason still go out and pick this guy up. His latest victim? The Braves. And there’s no way they can say they didn’t see it coming. Just scroll down through the article and, after reading about how he pitched this time, relive the magic of his previous outing with the Braves.

At least Farnsworth didn’t go crazy after the game like some other NL East relievers. Instead he just accepted it as another day at the park: “Can’t do anything about it. Just got to keep your head up and keep going.”

Really, Farnsy? Because I think you actually can do something about it. I think these GM’s could get their heads out of their a$$es and make a decision not to hire you anymore. They did it to Barry Bonds and he at least performed. I should probably keep it down, though. Even if the managers don’t read this, you might and I wouldn’t want to see you cry again.

The interwebs are a buzz about RSBS‘ propensity for picking on what seems like only a select few players/teams, for striking at those more prone to ridicule, the bottom of the baseball barrel. We’re talking about the Kyle Farnsworths, Brad Lidges, Milton Bradleys. We’re talking about the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals.

We’re talking about easy marks. All of them. They are weak, addled, flawed.

But let it be know that dear readers galore have spoken; and we at RSBS are not ones to disappoint. So here ya go, folks… a quick slanderous slaying of all 30 Major League Teams… in one minute or less (or more, depending on your reading level):

Hey, Yankees, is that Mo’nique or C.C. Sabathia?…Boston Red Sox? More like Boston Sucks Cox!…Dear Rays, I can’t wait until you disappoint all your new fans by letting Carl Crawford go…Blue Jays, if you were gonna let an Italian destroy your franchise, why not give one of the Gottis a shot?…I didn’t know the Oriole way included a sharp decline in season ticket sales…

Sorry, Twins, but you’ll never be as good as Kent Hrbek farting in George Brett’s face…Hey Tigers, remember when people used to live in your city?…Attending a White Sox game is a lot like attending a vocational school open house…I think we can all agree that Charlie Sheen could make the 2010 Indians squad…The Kansas City Royals… did I mention Kyle Farnsworth?…

Oh, sure, I love the California Los Angeles Angels of Los Aneheim California Angeles Los L.A….The Texas Rangers: Where born again drug addicts find Jesus while not making it to the playoffs…AGAIN…Wow, Mariners, your most famous player outside of Griffey and Ichiro is… Harold Reynolds? Seriously? Ouch…A’s… it stands for “moneyball doesn’t work so it’s best we go back to employing known juicers”…

Dear Phillies, if the Phanatic isn’t a phag, I don’t know what mascot is…Sorry, Marlins… if you’re not cocaine or the Dolphins, Miami doesn’t even know you’re there…Atlanta Braves…14 straight playoff appearances and how many World Series titles?…Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Met will now be played by a corpse…Hey, Nationals, two words for ya: Dunn’s ^ss!…

The Cardinals? The Cardinals!?! You’re… you’re… aweso– you’re… (Sorry, I can’t do it; I tried)…For insults directed towards the Cubs, please see the 2+ years of RSBS archivesHey, Brewers, is that Mo’nique or Prince Fielder?…Just wait, Reds fans, two more years of Dusty Baker, and you won’t even have a pitching staff!…Houston, we have a problem… and it’s called the Astros…Yeah, picking on the Pirates is a lot like picking on the quadriplegic fat blind kid whose parents got divorced and forgot they even had a kid…

The Dodgers‘ m.o. is: show up late, leave early, hope no one notices the messy divorce…Ok, Rockies, Dante Bichette called, he wants his inflated numbers back…Hey, Giants, is that Mo’nique or — nope, that’s Pablo Sandoval. He’s just fat…Padres? Friars? Perhaps Molested Altar Boys would be more suiting, considering the amount of back-bending abuse they’ve taken from Sandy Alderson…The Arizona Diamondbacks? More like the Arizona Diamondhacks!

Sometimes I wish I was a baseball scholar and could then issue baseball fatwas. Fatwas are such useful tools. Look at their history.

Don’t like Salman Rushdie’s books? Issue a fatwa allowing for his death. Don’t like the intermingling of the sexes in educational institutions? Issue a fatwa allowing for the death of those who okayed it.

I’m not saying all fatwas inspire quite such lunacy and, in fact, despite its modern connotation, a fatwa usually has more to do with the mundane elements of everyday life than anything else.

But, if you take it just a little ways past the line (or way over as in the case of the two I already mentioned), it gets your name out there and lets you make some bold statements. And since nowadays it doesn’t even appear that you have to be a recognized authority to issue a fatwa, I see that as an opening up of the field to just about anyone. With that in mind, here are my first few baseball fatwas:

Starting Kyle Farnsworth is Justification for Losing Your FranchiseYes, I realize this affects the Tigers just as much as it does the Yankees, Cubs and Royals but at least the Tigers and Yankees never seriously considered this option. As the baseball ascetic, St. Allen of Michigan has brought to our attention many times, Farnsworth is a huge bag of suck and it’s time there were consequences.

Pink Hats Should not be Allowed Into nor Sold in StadiumsI have mentioned this before but this is my first time codifying the decree. There is no reason to feminize the sport. If you can’t appreciate the game for what it is and need a pink hat to get you to the park, maybe it’s better if you stayed home. Pink is for cotton candy, baby girls and prom dresses, not baseball hats.

Songbirds are Unacceptable Mascots and Their Fans Deserve RidiculeLook, there are hardcore birds like Eagles and Falcons and then there are pansy birds like Blue Jays, Orioles and Cardinals. You can try to blame it on the owner or tradition but you’re still the one wearing a fancy pigeon on your clothing. I’m even open to extending this fatwa to fans of franchises named after baby animals. Would you cheer for a team if they were called the Puppies? The why would you cheer for the Cubs? Marlins may be fish but they can put up a fight. And if you think that Rays aren’t dangerous, you might ask Steve Irwin for a second opinion.

So, there you have it. My first three baseball fatwas. Now, let the arguments in baseball jurisprudence begin.

I know what you’re thinking, dear readers, and let me assure you: yes, indeed I did just make a Fiddler on the Roof reference.

BAM!

That’s because, as I write this, Major League pitchers and catchers are reporting to their respective training camps; and after a long, cold, hard winter of Brad Lidge, Milton Bradley and Kyle Farnsworth bashing, we can all finally relax knowing our hallowed game is springing back to life.

A year ago this week, my cynical and oft busy-body colleague Mr. Allen Krause, and I took to the streets of Chicago to proclaim our undying crush on the game of baseball. Luckily for you there was a film crew following us, not to mention an ebullient David Archuleta, who lent us his tunes, to make a point.

And as we hope will be a long and prosperous tradition of ringing in the new baseball season, we (re)present to you the definitive RSBS tradition:

If I were stranded on a remote island ten years ago and I just now got back to see Rick Ankiel is playing center field for the Kansas City Royals, I would be thoroughly confused. We all know what a tremendous story Rick Ankiel’s career has been up to this point. So let me be clear: as a Cardinals fan, I fully support Ricky and thank him for all he did in a Cards uniform. I wish him the best of luck.

Yet I cannot help but believe all those concussions did a smidgen more than some serious damage to his psyche.

In his welcoming press conference with the Royals last week, Ankiel mentioned that part of why he wanted to come to Kansas City was because he ‘liked the direction’ the team was going.

That’s horse$hit.

And we all know it.

The truth is: Rick Ankiel is happy to be with the Royals because he has a job now when it looked like he might not. I can’t blame the guy. I would do the exact same thing… which may or may not include my liking ‘the direction’ of the team.

Because, let’s face it: this team ain’t goin’ anywhere.

Again.

Scott Podsednik. Jason Kendall. Billy Butler. Kyle Farnsworth.

These names do not a champion make.

I think the best summary of the Kansas Royals’ direction, under the keen eye of GM Dayton Moore, is represented by a technical glitch which provided wonderment during the press conference.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Kansas City Royals: Team of Infinite Regress:

Hate me ‘cuz I hurt feelings, just don’t hate me ‘cuz I’m right.

Peace,

Jeff

– – –

Tune in Monday and Tuesday of this week. Ninemen’s Morris is baaaaaaaaaaaaack…

I feel like a failure. Here we are, well into 2010, and not one single update on Kyle Farnsworth. However, being the person I am, I refuse to let this situation stand. So, after some painstaking research, I found a recent video of Farnsworth in action:

Crying, orgasming and only god knows what else. The man is just full of odd noises. Hope you didn’t have any romantic plans for the evening but happy Saturday nonetheless.

No matter how much we want to look forward we inevitably end up looking back. Perhaps that explains why the Attorney General is looking into possible charges against CIA officers who went too far with interrogations. Perhaps it’s how we end up with a liveblog of the German invasion of Poland. And perhaps that’s why even RSBS looked 100 years into the past over the last few days.

But sometimes it is helpful to look backwards for understanding the present. Here are a few examples.

Glenn Beck’s Cantankerousness:

One word: Illiteracy

Jeff’s Inability to Find a Woman:

Three words: Dungeons and Dragons

Kyle Farnsworth’s Current Home Somewhere in Missouri:

One word: Crybaby

Happy Labor Day Weekend. Remember, this is your last chance to wear white so make the most of it.

Does this mean, Al, that you would have taken Steve Howe back 6 times like Steinbrenner did? He picked up Strawberry and Gooden too. He loved reclamation projects.

Now, first of all, I have to say that it’s a pretty low blow to compare me to satan incarnate. Am I older than god and incontinent? No. But the question itself is interesting. Baseball, like life, seems to be all about reclaiming, recycling and otherwise reusing. Honestly, is there any other reason that Kyle Farnsworth still has a job?

The first part of the question is easy. The only Howe that I would take multiple times is Gordie and any true Michigander would be right there with me. But if you look at baseball right now, how many players are in their newest incarnation as the result of some sort of experiment, some sort of reclamation? Rick Ankiel. Josh Hamilton. The existence of the designated hitter shows the natural (or unnatural, depending on who you ask) evolution of this philosophy.

But I guess here’s what I’ll say. If you can pick up a guy who’s iffy and he’s not going to be a cancer in the clubhouse, why not give it a try? And if you’ve tried it before and it didn’t work but you have a new approach this time, I say go for it. In the end, that’s what sets your run of the mill GM or owner apart from the greats. The great ones recognize who can still contribute and in what way while the other guys just fish around and hope for the best.

Here’s a good rule of thumb, though. Kyle Farnsworth is beyond reclamation. Can we just agree on this once and for all?

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